Hey guys and girls, well not to long ago i finished working on Medieval 2 Total War, i worked in the game-testing department. It was a lot of fun i learnt so much, even better is the fact that i now have one shipped title under my name and on my resume.
Here the thing but, you would think having experience in Quality Assurance would help your chances in applying for jobs in the future, sadly not the case well at least not in my experience thus far. I have applied to every studio in Australia, said im willing to relocate etc, but im still having no luck.
Its seems like everyone else I know is snatching up the QA jobs, What can I do? I have the professional experience in QA, I have the experience doing 2d/3d art (self taught) as well, but I just haven?t been called up not even for an interview.
I?m confused and depressed I need some advice please.
Thomas
I am regularly mystified by the lack of apparent pattern regarding games companies showing, and not showing, interest in my applications. So you are not alone with your confusion.
Keep reviewing/refining your cover letter and resume. make sure they are short, sharp and show you off in a good light. You don't get alot of time to impress. I noted that a company spend a total of 50 seconds visiting my online portfolio and looked at under a quater of my samples. So you don't have much time to impress. If you are still able to contact senior and/or management types from your Medieval job it might be worth seeing if they would be willing to review your letter and resume. This contact might also result in job leads if they know of anything suitable (cool kids get jobs through networking leaving the rest of us mugs to duke it out for advertised positions).
apart from that do like Souri said - chin up and keep at it
If I was you I'd be heading over to the Game Connect conference this weekend and mix it up. Personal exposure to companies is far better than a letter.
http://www.gameconnectap.com/
groovyone2006-11-29 13:15:04
Yeah I know what it can be like being outside of the industry trying to get in. When you've a low level of experience (a year or less), a lot of it has to do with getting in the right persons face (or email) at the right time.
If it makes you feel any better, I do think it's strange that you haven't been able to find QA work with your experience. Most people getting into QA have no experience. It is entirely possible there isn't any QA work out there at the moment.
My advice is to keep sending your resume to all the games companies you can find and follow up with phonecalls, ask for their QA manager and find out what the situation is. I think you're more likely to succeed with developers in your area, I haven't heard of anyone hiring a QA person from overseas or interstate unless they were REALLY senior (even then I haven't heard of it).
Uhh I'll have to correct you there Souri, Med2 was the BEST game. I'm STILL playing that bastard, and I cant wait till the Kingdoms expansion comes out.
Reasons for not replying to a resume include lack of experience sure, but they also include:
*No available positions
*Position already being filled
*Company finds position may not be as critical as they thought
*Resume just doesn't get seen
*Company miscalculated funds and realise they cant afford it (it does happen)
*Company doesn't follow up on their own job advertisement
*Company finds some poor inhouse bastard to work that job on top of their own
*Company waiting till end of project to expand QA dept
*Company avoids looking at resumes outside of local area to avoid relocation cost
Thats a few ideas off the top of my head and none of them have anything to do with your skills or exp so don't lose confidence. What's your resume like? does it stand out from the other 50 that employer will also be looking at? Maybe expand out a bit, show skills and willingness for other roles as well. Try to not make your skills TOO vague but the more departments the resume passes through, the more eyes see it, the more people that say "Hey this guy worked on Total War".
Persistance is the key - Game developers get a lot of crappy resumes/portfolios, but they also receive some good ones but aren't always in a position to act on them straight away.
However I've employed candidates with good resumes simply because they were persistant... try to touch base with some of your contacts on a regular basis.
Good luck mate, and keep at it :)
Congrats on Medieval 2: Total War, that really is a great game!
Not sure if I can offer any decent advice, but chin up and keep at it!